Year 2

The use of autologous, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cell lines in replacement therapies holds great promise in future clinical use. No need for immunosuppression, otherwise required to prevent transplanted cell rejection, would represent a substantial advance in the current clinical utilization of cell replacement therapies. In our recently completed studies we have found that autologous porcine iPSC-derived neural precursors (NPCs) grafted back to the donor animal spinal cord in the absence of immunosuppression was associated with a poor cell survival and extensive inflammation at cell-grafted sites. In more recent study we have determined that the same cell population of iPS-NPCs survive and mature once grafted spinally in immunosupressed pigs.The mechanism of the immunogenicity of iPS-NPCs is being currently determined.